If they can't be, knowing the opportunities they've pissed away the last 2 years, then Joe will blow it up. I think we'll find out this year who can come back to earth and who will remain permanently in orbit. IMO, Rip and Tay are the least-likely space cadets. Absolutely no clue about the two others.

At one end of the court were eight members of the Boston Celtics -- all 24 years old or younger -- engaged in a pickup game that included all the wisecracks, trash talk and schoolyard bickering you would expect out of a video game generation.

At the other end of the court were a group of assistant coaches slouched in their folding chairs watching over the collection they hope to help mold into a winning basketball team starting next month.

Then there was Theo Ratliff as the man in the middle. Closer in age to some of the coaches than his new teammates, the 33-year-old center certainly stood out in the crowd of players all more than nine years his junior during an informal workout this week at the team's Waltham training facility.

The old football player is the judge who will be presiding: Edward Newman, 55, who played for the Miami Dolphins from 1973 through '84, graduated from the University of Miami law school in '87 and was elected to his first judgeship in '94. The basketball player is Dale Davis, 37, of the Detroit Pistons, who faces five misdemeanor charges -- including assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence -- stemming from an incident last month at a South Beach hotel that ended with Miami police shooting him with a stun gun.

The Detroit Pistons will have a new starting five for the first time since the beginning of the 2003-2004 season. The departure of the franchise’s face, starting center Ben Wallace, has left a gapping hole in the middle of the Pistons defense.

If Detroit wasn’t fully committed to scoring more last season they will have no choice this season. Here is how the roster breaks down and what each position will need to do in order to keep the Pistons on top...

The last the thing the Pistons need is for Bonzie Wells to sign with the Heat to give them that extra slasher that we don't have:(. Doesn't Joe have anything we can offer him?? If he signs with them for that $1.8 mill lower level sal cap exceptionshoot somebody

Danger Zone: Detroit’s calling card over the past 3 seasons, interior defense, will now be a big question mark. This roster lacks that great help side interior player they had in Ben Wallace. That could lead to many frustrating nights for the combustible Rasheed Wallace on the inside. Detroit will need to find a new identity on defense now that they lost their security blanket in Big Ben.

Biggest Change: It goes without saying the loss of Ben Wallace will change the very philosophy of the Detroit Pistons. Gone will be the highlight blocks, the swooping rebounds, the arena uplifting intensity, and the ability to erase defensive mistakes made by perimeter defenders. In its place will be a unit of journeymen who will have to do what Ben could not in order to keep the team competitive. They will need to score intelligently and make free throws. Not in mass quantity, but finish their opportunities, and create more room for the guards by being an offensive threat.

Danger Zone: Depth and Let down. Detroit is only one injury away from having only one true center on their team. These guys shouldn’t be called on to replace Ben Wallace, they should be counted on to add a new dynamic to a team trying to evolve with new league rules catering towards offense. Unfortunately for them Ben Wallace was the heart of a team that made deep playoff runs and won a championship in the past three season. Fans are used to a certain type of man in the paint and reality will set in the first time the defense breaks down for an easy dunk. The tough task of making fans and teammates play on without Ben Wallace will be made easier if the center does the dirty work and they win.

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I think this is an insightful analysis of our defensive predicament. The transition from DEEETROIT BAAASKETBAAALLto whatever this team will become next will be both maddening and fascinating. I like that this article notes that the fans will have to make the transition with the team and that it'll be difficult for those of us who prefer the signature Pistons defensive style to anything else in the NBA.

I expect Nazr Mohammad to play with a new found (for him) passion. Hopefully he buys into our concept of "hustle." Former Pistons Dennis Rodman, Jerome Williams in addition to Big Ben should be his "role models."

Nazr don't have to be another "Ben." A new, improved, and motivated "Nazr" would be perfectly acceptable to me. A guy who forms part of a core of solid big men to complement our upcoming lotto selected/traded-for legit big man. It's a golden opportunity for Nazr. Let's see if he's got the gumption to go for it.

It just wouldn't be the start of training camp without a coach or two on the hot seat.

Isn't that right, Flip Saunders?

After their conference finals flameout, the Pistons forced Saunders to fire his long-time, right-hand man, Don Zierden, and they would have made him ax Sidney Lowe, too, if Lowe hadn't seen what was happening and wisely fled for the North Carolina State head coaching job. At last check, it was Saunders who burned out his starters in the regular season, contributing to their dead legs against the Heat, but Zierden unjustly ended up as the fall guy.

Saunders enters his second season in Detroit with the organization wondering if he's tough enough to deal with his veteran players, while ex-Bucks head coach Terry Porter and Dave Cowens join the bench as assistants. If the Pistons are struggling into January, Saunders is going the way of the Edsel, with Porter considered the favorite to inherit the job, although Bill Laimbeer is also waiting in the wings.

As for Saunders, he knows where he stands. He has his eye on returning to the University of Minnesota, his alma mater, where his connections still run deep.